Birds are a vertebrate class with one of the highest basal metabolic rates across all animals. So the question arises: does their mtDNA have nucleotide content and mutational bias shift due to Ah->Gh and Ch -> Th (h – heavy chain) mutations?
Our hypotheses:
- Birds should have more G and T on the mtDNA in four-fold positions
- Amount of G and T should grow with increase with each gene specific time being single stranded
- Birds with high basal metabolism rate – antarctic ecozone and herbivore aquatic trophic niche should have higher amount of G and T due to Ah->Gh and Ch->Th
- Mutagenesis is the main reason for birds mtDNA nucleotide content shift
